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6 Alienating Ancient Maya Commoners
Author(s) -
Lohse Jon C.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
archeological papers of the american anthropological association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.783
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1551-8248
pISSN - 1551-823X
DOI - 10.1111/apaa.12017
Subject(s) - maya , alienation , focus (optics) , sociology , archaeology , history , political science , law , physics , optics
ABSTRACT Determining whether or how ancient Maya commoners were alienated from the results of their labor first requires that scholars recognize what impediments or biases have hindered a theoretically informed view of commoners and their social roles. Using historical developments in Mesoamerican archaeology as a guide, I examine why Maya archaeology since the mid‐1980s has tended to focus so strongly on elites, often to the exclusion of commoners. I then discuss different identities that Maya commoners may have assumed based on alienable or inalienable social labor in both public and private contexts.